Terminal olefins, also called 1-olefins or alpha-olefins, are useful as reactants for a number of commercially important processes such as hydroformylation, sulfonation, alkylation and acid oligomerization. In these processes they are more reactive than internal olefins. The homologous series of 1-olefins can be prepared by the thermal cracking of paraffinic hydrocarbons. However, olefins produced by catalytic cracking will generally have close to thermodynamic equilibrium composition determined by the cracking temperature for the mixture of normal and branched isomers. These isomers are frequently not easily separated. When the normal and branched isomers can be separated from each other as with butenes, then the normal olefins can be treated by the catalyst of this invention to provide a fraction that is enriched in 1-olefins.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a process for the shifting of an internal double bond in an aliphatic mono-olefin hydrocarbon to the terminal position.
Another object of this invention is to provide a catalytic process for shifting an internal bond in an aliphatic mono-olefin to the 1- or the terminal position.
Another object of this invention is to provide a catalytic process for the selective isomerization or shifting of an internal unsaturation or double bond in an aliphatic mono-olefin to a terminal or 1-position.
Other aspects, objects as well as the several advantages of the invention are apparent from a study of this disclosure and the appended claims.